CHARADRID®. 343 
and dull white mixed; the rest of the bird as in the 
former. Another shot in the winter has a small 
white spot on the forehead; the space between the 
beak and the eye dull hair-brown; head and nape 
dull hair-brown and black mixed, but no white; the 
margins of the lesser wing-coverts have more rusty 
in them than the last; the chin and throat pure 
white; the breast is black, a few of the feathers 
slightly margined with white; the rest of the bird as 
in the first mentioned. 
The eggs, when fresh, are said to be greenish olive 
in colour, marked with spots and streaks of dark 
ash-colour and olive-brown or black.* 
OYSTERCATCHER, Hematopus ostralegus. The 
Oystercatcher, or ‘‘ Sea-pie,” as it is always called 
by the sailors,—perhaps more properly, for ‘‘ Oyster- 
catcher” is certainly a misnomer, though I have no 
doubt it would deserve the name if it could,—is 
common all along our coast, and may at times be 
seen in flocks of many hundreds: it is resident 
throughout the year, and breeds in places suited 
to it. The eggs are generally deposited on some 
shingly beach, or under any rough grass, just above 
high-water mark. JI have known it breed, how- 
ever, amongst the rocky parts of the shore of 
Guernsey, though not in the numbers it does on the 
lower parts. 
* Meyer's ‘ British Birds,’ vol. v., p. 125. 
